On Tuesday, 21 February, at 3 pm, the bells of the Olomouc churches (St. Moritz, St. Michael and St. Wenceslas) will ring. Traditionally, this will commemorate the hitorical moment when on 21 February 1946, the Olomouc citizens were thus notified that a law had been passed on the restoration of the University of Olomouc, fulfilling their dream of once again becoming a university town.
The University of Olomouc was founded by efforts of the local bishops with the permission of the Pope and the Emperor in 1573. Over the centuries, it has seen better and worse days and had to suspend its activities during several times. The last such interruption occurred after 1860, when the university was dissolved by the Viennese government for political reasons and only the theological faculty was left in operation – it too was closed with the rest of the Czech universities during World War II.
After the war, based on the requests of the Olomouc intelligentsia, the university was formally restored by a law passed by the Czechoslovak National Assembly on 21 February 1946. The arrival of the news from Prague was welcomed with the sound of the Olomouc church bells on that day.